CRSmalls and company — Restaurant in Forrest City

UPDATED REVIEW: CR Smalls Family Restaurant changed hands mid-March 2025. And with that change came subpar food, higher prices, a horrible atmosphere, and a management team that believes berating their servers in front of customers is the perfect way to run a restaurant. The location of CR Smalls is still great. Some of the original servers and cooks are still there, although the new owners are slowly but surely running them all off. It seems that everything that made CR Smalls a great southern cooking family restaurant, the new owners want to change. The food used to be premium in taste and quality. For example, fried green tomatoes used to be almost palm-size and fried with corn meal. Now, it seems they're a lot smaller and fried in flour. That's not a fried green tomato, folks. Southern people would know that. But don't worry, because they didn't forget to raise the price. Another example, the fried pickles. They used to be 6 spears for 6.99. Now they are slicing them, so you barely get 2 1/2 spears for the same price. There are all kinds of fun rip offs like that happening now with the new ownership. Portion sizes are so much smaller now. Instead of a huge basket of fried mushrooms, you might get 10 for the same price. And the mushrooms aren't even seasoned like they used to be. It's a rip off. In fact, most of the "old" appetizers have changed in flavor and quality. The prices are higher. I have been there 4 times since they opened under new management, including opening day, hoping to give them a chance to redeem themselves. The salads are no longer premium lettuces, but just a cheap iceberg mix. Did I mention that three of us ordered chef salads (which boast meats and eggs)? None of us got turkey or egg in our salads, even though the receipt even said the items belonged on there. The ham sandwich used to be a premium breakfast ham. Now it's a cheap deli ham. Same price as a premium breakfast ham sandwich with none of the taste. Can I say anything nice about the place, besides about some of the servers? Sure. They are removing all traces of "southern" atmosphere in exchange for televisions on the wall. Wait. That isn't a nice change either. Everything that made CR Smalls great has been tossed aside in favor of making more money off the customer base that apparently made them want to buy the restaurant in the first place. They should change the name to "Everything Is Different But Give Us More Money".

Older review for when CR Smalls used to be good: Great food, good portion sizes at reasonable prices. My favorite breakfast item is the western Omelet. Sometimes I get it with tots and sometimes with toast. The servers are friendly. Try the homemade oatmeal...

If I could give this less stars I would. I am a local and have eaten at CRSmalls hundreds of times. I even used to work there. When I take my daughter somewhere to eat, it's to spend the money that I work for and earn. I do NOT have to spend thay money especially on overpriced, inedible food. My entire family went there when they did their first crawfish night and they were undercooked. My daughter's 16 Oz steak was undercooked and nasty. They smothered the steak in butter that NEVER melted. My daughter and I went back tonight to give them a second chance and what do we get? Ignored. We sat at a table right under the windows. We were not greeted by the staff though, those that came in after us were. We sat there and waited on a waitress that NEVER came to our table though, people thay came in after us were. At this point, i told my daughter thay we were leaving. If you are going to run a business, it takes several factors. Customer service, food prices, food quality, management, atmosphere to name a few. This place has NONE of these factors. I will just go ahead and say this outright: the previous owner never should have sold to these people. She built something awesome with all of the key factors, and these people are...

I had been so impressed with this place--and then ... The waitstaff has always been really attentive and friendly--A+ I had bragged about the fish that I had eaten here, and then, the last time I was in, the fillets were really cut-down, sort of like half-fillets. this is a common practice at fish places, but the menu prices had been marked out, and i recall that the large plate had been $11.99, I asked my server about price, and she sheepishly announced that it was now $13.99. OK. I tried it. Besides the fact that the fillets were too small, after I ordered, I noticed the sign (required by law) penned to the post by the server's station proclaiming that the fish was imported--Oh, Joy! The Country fried steak is fabulous (or was), so i will go back, but not for fish. Too bad. This place started out so well. I suppose liker other Delta ventures, it will destroy its early success and be a vacant...